▷ How to clone usb or pendrive step by step ✔️

In this article we will teach you step by step how to clone a USB. And is that duplicating the content of a USB or pendrive is trivial when we talk about normal files. However, if it is a bootable USB stick or pendrive for an operating system, some of the system files may remain hidden or protected. Thus, even if we select the visible files, copy them and paste them in other USBs in a basic way, the resulting pendrive will not start the OS.

To duplicate a USB or USB flash drive , what you do is clone the device, a somewhat more complex procedure that varies depending on the operating system you are using. When done correctly, the resulting USB contains all files, including hidden and protected files, making it a perfect copy of the original for all practical purposes.

The reasons why you are interested in cloning a bootable USB are diverse, the following list shows some of the most common reasons among users:

• Migrate the original installation and generated files to a new USB with greater capacity Maintain the configuration of our current system when changing to a new computer Have a backup for recovery purposes Have the operating system in different locations or computers

If we are in any of the above cases, or there is any other reason that justifies cloning the bootable USB, the following guide explains step by step how to do it easily in any of the three most popular operating systems. Go for it.

Index of contents

How to clone USB from Windows

Windows does not have a tool integrated into its operating system that allows us to clone a USB, so it is necessary to resort to third-party software to find a solution to the problem.

There are multiple tools on the market to do this. Only some of them are distributed for free. Among these we have ImageUSB, one of the most used softwares to make backup images of our USB and clone boot pendrives .

The first step is to download the program from a secure source. To do this we will go to the PassMark Software website, specifically to the page for ImageUSB:

There we will click on the download image. As of October 25, 2019, the software is in version 1.4.1003 and has a weight of 1468 kilobytes. Checking this information when the file is already on our computer allows us to confirm that the download was successful and that the folder actually contains the software we are looking for (impersonations are ruled out).

From our Internet browser we will have to indicate that the imageusb.zip file is saved on our computer. You can let it use the automatically specified path (recommended for simplicity), which will send the compressed folder to "Downloads, " or specify the location we prefer.

Once on our computer, we will go wherever it has been saved and unzip the folder by clicking on it with the left button. This will display a menu where we will select the file extraction option «Extract to imageusb».

Then access the folder that has just been generated and double click on the imageUSB.exe installer. This will start the software installation process. Depending on the version of Windows that we use and the configuration of our user profile, we may have to accept a dialog box to allow changes to be made to our computer.

The installation takes just a few seconds and the program runs instantly. It does not contain any type of associated malicious software , so we can rest assured to carry out the installation regardless of our level of computer knowledge.

To proceed, the bootable USB will need to be connected to the computer. The USB to which we want to clone the content must also be.

When we have our USB sticks connected to their corresponding ports, the USB information will be presented in the informative box referring to the first step «Step 1». If this is not shown we will have to click on the «Refresh» button to force the program to obtain the information of the storage devices present in the system again.

At the moment in which the information of our pendrive is already available through ImageUSB, we will have to select the devices involved in our operation from the program's GUI. For this we will click on the selection box, if we do it correctly, an approval tick will appear.

To complete this action we must know in advance the name of our bootable USB, especially if there are multiple devices connected, as well as the destination. Note also that there is the possibility to select or deselect all devices at the same time using the «Select All» and «Unselect All» buttons; These can be useful for cloning multiple USB sticks or for solving selection errors. It should also be noted that the USB that is empty will automatically be designated as the destination of the generated images.

At the moment in which we already have selected the boot USB and the destination USB we can proceed to the next step. Just below the interactive box are four selectors. We will click on the first one to create an image (clone) on the destination USB stick . The boxes on the right do not require any interaction on our part.

The third step, «Step 3: Select the image (.bin,.img or.iso) file to write to the USB drive (s)», is not necessary in our case, it only serves to have more control over the image cloned, its name, extension and route. So we continue to the last step.

To finish the process, just click on the "Write" button that is located just above the reports dialog box, and to the left of a progress bar. Clicking on the button will start the process and the bar will fill up as you go along. Depending on the volume of information, the wait can be quite long, it is advisable to take it easy and not despair.

As soon as the image has been created on the destination USB, ImageUSB will give us a notice that everything has been completed correctly. We accept in the dialog box and close the program: we already have a new USB or USB stick.

How to clone USB from macOS

Apple's operating system is currently used by 13.23% of the computers available on the market. Although it is possible to use third-party software such as Clonezilla, Acronis or similar, macOS has a pre-installed tool that allows you to clone any disk.

Next we are going to see one of the many existing methods by which we can clone our bootable USB in macOS. The procedure we have chosen is extremely simple compared to the alternative routes that use commands.

Before starting the process, you must connect the boot pendrive and the destination USB where we want to clone the generated image.

First of all we will have to run the Disk Utility tool found in Applications / Utilities. Its icon resembles a hard disk being probed by a stethoscope. It is not difficult to find, and to start it you just have to click on it. If we don't detect it the first time, we can use the folder explorer.

The first thing that appears on the screen then is the application dialog box. This is broadly divided into three blocks: a top toolbar, a side section on the left that shows all the disks available at that precise moment in the computer and a large work area where the information is located. of the selected disc in an orderly fashion.

To start the process of cloning the USB or USB stick, you must select the destination disk; that is, the free USB that we want to contain the information of the original once we have finished the process. To select it, just place the pointer on it and click until it is shaded.

Then we will go to the upper toolbar that is displayed on the screen, we will display the options menu of the "Edit" tab and then we will select "Restore".

When doing so, a new dialog box appears that urges us to select the source disk, this will be the USB that contains the information that we want to clone. We are also warned that when executing the restoration any information contained in the previously selected destination disk will be erased and replaced by the image that we are going to generate.

Once the source USB has been chosen, we can press the "Restore" button located in the lower right corner. This will initiate the cloning procedure, a fact that becomes abundantly clear when a new dialog box appears on the screen with a process bar that tells us how much time remains to finish the requested task. There is a small "Show details" drop-down that presents additional information on screen if we need it. It is generally unnecessary for our role.

When the process has finished, the dialog box changes to enable the "Finish" button, we click on it and we can remove the USB. The destination flash drive will have become a perfect copy of the original by now.

How to clone USB from Linux

This operating system offers absolute control over the computer to the user. However, to achieve this, the usability of the included applications is often sacrificed. Although Linux has several tools to clone a disk, the reality is that all of them are quite complex. We have discarded for this guide the options referring to the native application used to clone partitions, Partimage, to give greater visibility to the commands.

Before continuing, we want to emphasize that the use of these commands involves a substantial risk. If any step raises questions (especially the identification of the USB that depends entirely on the hardware involved), it is better to use a technician who has experience with these issues. An error can cause our information to be irretrievably lost or our operating system to be damaged. It is necessary to proceed with extreme caution.

The following steps indicate how to clone a USB with the dd or disk destroyer command. The name of the command itself warns of the danger of its use: making a mistake when entering the information can erase our disks. However, despite the alarm that this may cause, the use of dd is the fastest method and with the fewest number of steps.

First of all we have to check if the dd command is installed. Almost all Linux OS come with it as standard, but if it happens that ours does not, we can import it from the package management system.

Once we have made sure that we have the necessary tool, it is time to make sure that the source and destination USB are connected to the computer.

To know the internal name of the storage devices we will use the following command:

$ dmesg

This returns the disks currently connected to the computer along with their designation. It will be a combination of three letters that will begin with the sd characters, for example: sdb, sdc, sdd… The specific name depends on the number of storage disks present on our PC. The command presents the nested information, so that if the USB has partitions, they appear in the tree as an enumeration; in the case of sdb you would have sdb1, sdb2, etc. This is useful if we only want to clone a partition.

If we have difficulties to identify the name of the pendrive we can remove devices and use the command again to identify them. The way in which each of the elements are named is extremely important in the command that must be entered below:

dd if = / dev / source_USB_internal_name of = / dev / destination_USB_internal_name bs = 64K conv = noerror, sync

In this command you have to replace the internal names of the flash drives with those obtained in the previous step. The bs parameter imposes a limit on the size of the information blocks, it is recommended not to exceed 128K in this process.

When entering the command , an image of our source USB will be copied to the selected destination device. An error in entering names can cause serious data loss.

Of course, if we are afraid of debating with the operating system commands and damaging the information accumulated on our disks, we always have the possibility of having the help of a professional, a recommended option for user-level computer scientists.

Finally we recommend the following tutorials and guides:

What did you think of this tutorial on how to clone a USB or USB stick? Did you find it useful and interesting?